This has been another tough week when I have been very busy with work and battling a bad cold which just gets worse every day.  I have eaten badly and not exercised so feeling quite bad.  However, instead of feeling too negative about it all, I have 3 lovely things to share with you all.

One of my very favourite blogs is Green Kitchen Stories, a healthy vegetarian blog, by a Scandinavian couple who live in Stockholm.  Their recipes actually work, they feature foods I really like and the photography is incredible.  I always read their blog posts and follow their Instagram accounts.  This week I watched their You Tube films for the first time and they are great.  Most are only 1 and a half minutes which is perfect as not too long.  They are well shot and I love the style of them.  It is that clean and unfussy Scandinavian design I love so much.  I was inspired by one film to make this delicious breakfast.

Raw Buckwheat and Walnut Porridge served with Persimmon and Grapes Ingredients (serves 1)

1/2 a cup of raw buckwheat groats
1/2 a cup of walnuts
1 apple
Juice of 1 orange
4 cardamon pods ground or half a tsp of ground cardamom
1/2 tsp vanilla
Fuit to garnish

Method

Soak the walnuts and buckwheat in water for at least an hour

Rinse Grind the cardamom if using whole seeds Chop apple, juice orange and slice fruit for topping Add buckwheat, walnuts, chopped apple and orange juice to the blender and blitz until smooth.  Place in serving bowl. Tope with fruit of choice Enjoy!

This has a fresh and alive flavour which I enjoyed very much.  I have had a sore throat this week and I really liked the coolness of the porridge and the sweet and juicy fruits.  I don’t think I have ever had a persimmon before but I will be having them again as it was lovely.  The outer skin is similar to a tomato’s but the flesh inside is more like a nectarine. I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise this morning. There is a vineyard and winemakers near us called Hush Heath Estate and I had seen they were hosting a tasting weekend with 25% off their wines, still and sparkling.  Lara came home for a visit last night, the sun was shining and it was perfect timing to go and select our Christmas wines.  I have never visited Hush Heath before.  The vineyards were planted 12 years ago (if I recall correctly) and the facilities have been open for about a year.  You can walk around the estate which I will do another time but I was not up for a walk today.  I did manage to sit at this huge table with my gorgeous daughter and sampled all their wines. We bought lots of bubbles for Christmas and a bottle of Chardonnay for tonight which was delicious.  More like a Chablis than a Chardonnay, crisp, flinty and very drinkable. To my local friends, I recommend you get round there, try some award winning wines, support a local company and get 25% off the price.

Having Lara at home, discovering a new way of finding recipes from one of my favourite blogs and a cupboard full of local bubbles are the high lights of a busy and poorly week.